Do I tell my job interviewers I have vision loss?

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Nurse Beth,

I am an Geriatric RN for over 28 years...and was diagnosed with Pseudoexfoliative glaucoma which is hereditary with optic nerve damage from a pressure of 62 in the left eye which is under control now..but it has severely impacted my life the vision loss.....I cannot do floor work(insulin and measuring were the worst things that caused me intense anxiety and fear of giving the wrong doses)) anymore because of this and my last job was not accommodating to changing my job to something more suitable for me, like part time office work....prolonged computer work intensifies my eye pain.......so I am searching for office work now....my question is...do I tell my job interviewers that I have this vision loss? Or do I wait and get the job first and then tell them?

Dear Searching,

I'm sorry for what you're going through.

You do not have to disclose your medical condition to your prospective employer as long as it doesn't affect your ability to perform the essential job functions.

You definitely do not have to disclose it in a resume or cover letter.

So if the job requires occasional computer work and the essential job functions are telephone work, you would not need to tell them. If you take a job and then later disclose your condition, I would be strategic about doing so.

But let's say your job requires you to do computer worker for 6 hours, and you will need an accommodation to do so, you need to disclose these needs pre-hire.

Accommodations for low vision may include magnifiers, computer text enlargers, and even contact lenses (talk to your doctor).

Best wishes, my friend

Nurse Beth